Eric Fedorin would be impressed at what a little hockey game in his honor has become.

It is the sentiment that Rick Hutchinson has as the Fedorin Cup charity game has now reached its 20th edition, which will take place Saturday at Anaheim Ice. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf will be among the current and former players that have committed to participate in an event that’s often standing-room-only.

The Fedorin Cup was created in 1998 to raise money for Fedorin, a recreational Orange County-based men’s league player who had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Fedorin died shortly before the second annual game the following year.

Hutchinson has been one of the driving forces behind the continuous event that appears toward the end of August, taking pride in what many local fans have called “the unofficial start to the hockey season” as many out-of-town players often return to their NHL cities after Labor Day to prepare for training camps.

“Eric was kind of a larger-than-life guy,” said Hutchinson, hockey director for the The Rinks, the Ducks’ organization for their multiple hockey facilities. “He was outspoken and loud. He was kind of a big man and he was always in the middle of something and joking around. When he got sick, that all changed.

“When we had that first game for him and he played, he was pretty humbled and I’ve never seen him like that. To see 20 years later that it’s still going strong, I think he would be humbled again but also pretty proud of what we did and the friends that are still doing it.”

Other Ducks players scheduled to play are Andrew Cogliano and Nic Kerdiles. Former Ducks who will participate include Sean Pronger, Kent Huskins, Bryan Allen and Todd Marchant.

The game will played in a Team Canada vs. Team USA format beginning at 4:15 p.m, with pre-game festivities, including a silent auction, starting at 2:30 p.m.

All proceeds raised will go to the Athletic Sports Fund of America (ASFAmerica.com), which donates to causes such as the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, the American Cancer Society and the USC Norris Cancer Center.

Recent years have seen Hutchinson have a renewed energy and passion toward the event, one in which he wants to see a form of in every NHL city. He has enlisted the help former Ducks forward George Parros, now with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, with his goal of taking it league-wide.

The death of his brother, Bob, from cancer three years ago reinforced to him the many that are affected by the disease directly and indirectly.

“It really kind of re-focused me,” Hutchinson said. “We started for one reason and we continued. Along the way, you meet so many different people that are battling and some make it and same don’t. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions.

“When my brother passed, I was like, ‘What’s next? What do I do? How do it make it better and bigger?”

In the first few years, Hutchinson had to track players down and be persistent in getting them to commit their time. “Now I just mention it and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m in,'” he said.

His take on their continual participation: Players also have friends and loved ones close to them that are battling cancer, perhaps even losing that fight.

“They were in the event once and it was more like, ‘Hey, is that coming up? When is it? Let me know. I’ll play,'” Hutchinson contnued. “And the hockey community is a small world. The word gets out within the players and they see this is actually a pretty cool event and he does it right.

Eric Stephens has been covering the Ducks and the NHL for news outlets since 2005 and for the Orange County Register since 2009. Now happily spreading the hockey gospel throughout the Southern California News Group. Has covered three Stanley Cup Finals and (sadly) one NHL lockout. Once took up an invitation to a fan's tailgate barbecue at the College World Series. Has all sorts of genres on his iPod and tries his best in whatever he does most of the time. Only the grits at Waffle House come close to his. Eternal goal: Be better.